So, I figured some of you would be interested in what most Cantonese people eat here in Hong Kong as it's usually what I eat as well :) Well, dim sum is the most common form of traditional Cantonese food, which is when people share small portions of food served on a small plate or in a steamer basket for breakfast or lunch. Some of the most common dishes are shrimp, pork, and vegetable dumplings, steamed buns, fried squid, noodles, and various forms of cakes, such as turnip and water chestnut. My personal favorites are the fried squid and water chestnut cake! My first dim sum experience was during the first day of orientation here at Lingnan when I had no idea how to use chopsticks, but I've made great gains in using them since then, haha :)
*Sara & I at the Chinese restaurant on campus for dim sum!
*Vegetable & shrimp dumplings, fried rice, and bok choy
Tea is also a large part of the culture here as it's pretty much served everywhere you go. I've taken a liking to jasmine & oolong tea (I prefer them to be sweetened though), but unfortunately, I don't think my body likes caffeine very much :( When eating dim sum, the waiter will place a pot of water & a pot of tea on the table as well as an empty bowl. You are supposed to clean your spoon, cup, and rice bowl with the water or tea and then pour the dirty water or tea into the empty bowl. Also, when the people you are eating with pour your tea, you thank them by tapping your index finger once on the table if you are single or twice if you are married - quite interesting!
*Water chestnut cake - I know it looks weird, but it's actually very tasty!
Sushi is also very popular here in Hong Kong, and yesterday, Jessie from OMIP took a few of us out for sushi in Yuen Long. It was delicious and we tried SO many forms of sushi, such as california rolls, soft shell crab, tuna sashimi, fried shrimp, etc. and also an interesting roe, cucumber, and mayonnaise salad (I've noticed that they use mayonnaise a lot here for some reason). The sushi was quite a big bigger then what I'm used to in the US and the sashimi peices were never ending!
*Ha, me, Anna, Jessie, Kat, and Mimi - so full after all our yummy sushi!!
*Cucumber salad, sashimi, shrimp tempura, and crab :)
After sushi, we went to have "soft soft ice", which is this big mound of flavored ice. I don't really know how to explain it because it's definitely different than a snow cone/slushy substance. We tried strawberry with kiwi sauce and mango "popping balls", which are little aloe balls that burst with flavor when you bite into them. It was very light and refreshing, and I'm happy that I was able to try something so different!
*"Soft, soft ice"!
Hopefully you have a little glimpse into what type of food is popular here in Hong Kong that I like, haha. There are many foods that I don't like that are quite interesting, such as curry fish balls, bird saliva or shark fin soup, and chicken feet- sounds yummy, right?! I'm really looking forward to having some "normal" food, such as salad and pasta when I get back to the states though :)
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